It's been a while

Well, we're still managing here. Molly is 7 1/2 now--complete with missing front tooth--ridiculously overdramatic, and just as bossy, but with a larger vocabulary and a few new manipulative techniques. Sam will be 6 in May and is just a complete jokester. I find his humor completely hilarious--his facial expressions alone (see picture) are priceless.

People still want to know if Sam is talking and the unfortunate answer to that is 'no,' not anymore than before. Now and then he will surprise us with an approximation of a word that sounds close to correct, but overall, his typical vocabulary consists of no, mama, dat (dad), a strange sounding "yeah" and mostly just vowel sounds that are sometimes close to words. He will read books to us--pointing to words and creating word-like noises--he does this on the telephone, too. He has become very excited about writing and reading recently. I think he realizes that this will be a means of better communication for him. He is just beginning to write his letters and a couple words, but he seems to be picking things up quickly. He also can maneuver around a computer much better than many adults--including Michael. I'm currently looking into getting him an augmentative communication device so that he can start communicating, but they are extremely expensive and with the trouble we've been having with insurance I doubt we'll have much luck with funding. He's becoming frustrated more and more when we don't understand him. In fact, he's started trying to draw pictures when he is mad at me. He'll draw a picture of me and point to me and say "ooo" (you) and then scribble over it to prove to me that I am the source of his anger. Honestly, in Sam's world, we are the ones with the communication issues, not him. He's communicating just fine--we're the one's who are too inane to comprehend him.

We recently discovered that much of Molly's writing issues and trouble with comprehension and focusing have to do with her eyes, NOT ADHD as first thought. She has 20/20 vision, but her eyes are not tracking together. She has a biocular disorder which can actually be corrected with therapy. That too, of course, will NOT be covered by insurance. Tell me again why we're paying all this money for health insurance because I'm having a really hard time remembering. We took Sam to the same Vision specialist and he too has some major tracking problems, but we are going to wait a while before having him more fully tested since he can't really communicate well enough for the doctor to make a full and accurate diagnosis.

Anyway, come to find out, there are quite a few disorders and problems that have similar symptoms as ADHD, but for some reason pediatricians don't seem to be privy to them. Visual disorders are one of them as well as sensory integration disorders. Of course, Molly and Sam have both. It has taken me a while to get all of this figured out, and unfortunately, we still have quite a way to go with Sam's speech issue, but I feel a lot better about helping them both at this point. Neither will be taking any ADHD medicine as was originally suggested. I'm fully confident that we can rule out that diagnosis now.

Michael and I are becoming a bit worn out with all the therapy sessions the kids attend after school (OT, speech, play/art therapies), but we both feel that they are necessary. We've seen some really wonderful changes in both children, particularly in their behaviors and their fine motor skills. So, as of now, we are bypassing gymnastics, soccer, music lessons and the like in which typical children are enrolled. We just want to ensure that Molly and Sam have their basic needs met. Our next step is to have Sam tested for neurological issues. This is the one thing we haven't looked into. Oddly enough, it has never been suggested. I just happened to read a book that Craig gave me recently (Schuyler's Monster by Robert Rummel-Hudson) in which a father tells the story of his non-verbal daughter and all the testing and hardships his family has been through in order to help her succeed. As I was reading I was struck by how much Sammy sounds like this little girl. I also can completely relate to all the frustration and time and expense it takes to work with and advocate for special needs children. I just want an answer to Sam's inability to speak. I may not like that answer very much in the end, but I think I'm in a position now to be able to handle a not-so-ideal answer.